Probing the crystallography of ordered Phases by coupling of orientation microscopy with atom probe tomography

The determination of atomic scale structural and compositional information using atom probe tomography is currently limited to elemental solids and dilute alloys. In the present article, a unique coupling of orientation microscopy and atom probe tomography successfully facilitates the crystallographic study of non-dilute alloy systems, with high evaporation fields. This reproducible methodology affords a new perspective to the conventional atom probe tomography of ordered precipitate strengthened superalloys. The high accuracy in crystallographic site-specific sample preparation results in high spatial resolution in APT, which has been demonstrated in Co-base superalloys. The practical applications of this technique can be extended to accurately characterize the nature of buried order/disorder interfaces at the atomic scale, as well as the site occupancies associated with different solute atoms in multi-component superalloys.